1st Edition

Latin Explorations (Routledge Revivals) Critical Studies in Roman Literature

By Kenneth Quinn Copyright 1963
    294 Pages
    by Routledge

    294 Pages
    by Routledge

    Latin Explorations, first published in 1963, offers a fresh approach to Roman poetry from Catullus to Ovid. Traditionally, the period is divided for specialist studies – Lyric, Epic and Elegy. In each of them, techniques of interpretation prevail, isolated from contemporary ideas about poetry and dominated by barriers between ‘textual’, ‘exegetical’ and ‘aesthetic’ criticism.

    Kenneth Quinn discerns in Roman poetry of this period the adolescence, maturity and decay of a single coherent tradition whose internal unity surpasses differences of form. His argument attempts to reverse the dissociation of purely academic research from appreciative criticism, whilst also incorporating the work of textual scholars. Each chapter is supported by a detailed analysis of the texts: nearly 700 lines of poetry are discussed and translated.

    Latin Explorations will be of significant value not only to students of the Classics, but also to the ‘Latinless’ general reader who is interested in Roman literature.

    Preface; Abbreviations 1. Horace’s Spring Odes 2. Vigil’s Tragic Queen 3. Emergence of a Form: The Latin Short Poem 4. Dramatic Monologue in the Odes of Horace 5. Tacitus’ Narrative Technique 6. Propertius, Horace, and the Poet’s Role 7. Propertius and the Poetry of the Intellect 8. The Tempo of Virgilian Epic 9. Persistence of a Theme: The Proempticon; List of Poems and Passages Discussed; Index

    Biography

    Kenneth Quinn